Back to business in the skies for Etihad Airways as travel returns

A century ago American pastor Lynn H. Hough wrote these words (so the website quoteinvestigator.com tells me) which seem to echo through time and find fresh relevance in a post-Covid world where the lure of travel, and the enforced absence of it, calls to us once again.

Lynn isn’t alone in his belief, back in 1881, author Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired to write: “Little do ye know your own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.” Over the past century and a bit that morphed simply into ‘it’s better to travel than to arrive’.

Indeed there’s a Taoist proverb that says ‘the journey is the reward’, often attributed to Steve Jobs.

However you slice it, our appetite to become travellers, tourists, adventurers is back.

Of course, I suspect Pastor Hough had not visited the Maldives, he may have reviewed his statement about ‘the destination’, however, the importance of the journey, and who we trust to take it with, is unquestioned.

Thankfully on a recent visit to the Jumeirah Maldives resort on Olhahali island, some four hours flight from the UAE, we made the smart choice of travelling with Etihad Airways.

Travel options

We are blessed in the Emirates to have a choice of airlines which consistently outperform their international peers, but as a Dubai resident, particularly due to Covid and that temporary border, it had been a while since I’d travelled out of Abu Dhabi International Airport.

However, flight times and personal circumstances, meant that heading down the road to the UAE capital was the best option, and in the end, only represented an extra 15 minutes in the car to reach. That extra time was richly rewarded as we entertained Terminal 3 and turned left to business class check-in and the smiling team member waiting to take our bags. I timed it on my watch, 13 minutes precisely to check-in, get boarding passes, stroll through the dedicated immigration desk, through the well-stocked Duty-free shopping area and into the business class lounge, thankfully now fully open after the UAE’s peerless handling of the pandemic.

This is where you get to let out that first proper exhalation of breath, like yoga as you relax into the comfort and hospitality provided, one of the benefits of flying business class with Etihad. Inside the lounge, you are treated to white-glove service as team members keep an eye on your needs. Add to that a dedicated kids area plus a buffet offering sumptuous western, Asian and Arabic cuisine.

This all is the prelude, it’s when you’ve been priority boarded and sink into your business class seat that you begin to truly slip into a Zen-like calm.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner treats you to a 185cm flat seat bed which is 55cm wide, noise-cancelling headsets, and a world of entertainment with E-Box, viewed on a 35cm LCD screen.

But that is eclipsed by the warm smile, the hotel towel and the glass of something chilled that greets you as you take your seat. As you take off you feel time begin to change, it somehow slows, so you notice the genuine connection the onboard crew make with passengers.

Dinner of course was served on a crisp white cloth with polished cutlery and a select menu of dishes to tempt even the stuffiest of eaters, the sea bass comes with a special recommendation.

Even on a night flight with a relatively short flight time of four hours we were able to slow down, get some shut-eye, and arrive feeling fresh, touching down in paradise in the Maldives.

Had Pastor Hough joined us he perhaps might have updated his thinking to say that the zest of the journey helped us enjoy arriving at the destination more so.